Ch10 18

I’ve been hard at work at Henri’s side-story. Please excuse me while I wax poetic about how much it’s making me think.

So, I know comics are a visual medium, but sometimes that feels hard to pull off. A lot of people don’t pull it off, and their characters become a backdrop for telling a story through a million word balloons instead of showing a story through words and actions. I hope we’re pulling it off, because sometimes I’m not sure–it’s very easy to lose perspective on your own work because you know every intimate detail about how the page was made, what your thought process was when you made it, and so on. There’s no speculation, which makes analysis difficult–I can’t say ‘well maybe the artist or writer did it like this for this or that reason’ because I already know why I or Cory did things the way we did, and generally that reason is ‘because we thought it would work’ or ‘because we thought it would be interesting’.

Working on Henri’s side story has already given me a great deal of perspective, because it is without dialogue. It is a silent comic that tells a story through snapshots of Henri’s life, age ten to twenty, which means that I needed things to be clear without the characters spelling it out with actual words. In doing this, I learned an important lesson that I’d kind of been preaching, but didn’t really understand as well as I do now.

When turning my goofy thumbnails into sketched out pages, ready for inking, I came across a scene where I had a really hard choice to make. That choice was to not pull any punches, and tell it like it is, or dumb it down so that people reading it would be less shocked or offended and as a result, really take away the seriousness out of a serious situation. We made a similar decision way back when we decided that Henri would swear like a sailor–he’s a 20 year old with a chip on his shoulder, and there was no way words like ‘darn’ or ‘shoot’ or ‘fudge’ were ever going to come out of his mouth instead of the words that I often see authors substitute words like darn, shoot and fudge for in comics. It would have made us PG, but if I was a reader, it would have seemed weird, forced, and pulled me out of my sense of suspended disbelief. People have sent us letters or made comments on our page that informed me that they liked our comic, right up until Henri showed up and opened his mouth, and that we’d lost them as readers.

The scene in Henri’s sidestory felt shocking to me as I looked at the finished sketched page, which was shocking in itself. I usually get so tied down with trying to figure out how I’m making the audience feel that I rarely think about how things might make me feel. I drew it and I actually sat down and contemplated erasing it and taking the panel in a different direction. I made my decision by asking myself ‘is this something a real teenager would say or do, and the answer was yes, and anything less or edited would make hypothetical-me-as-a-reader think that I have no idea what teenagers are like. I had to think long and hard on that, because I somehow managed to throw myself for a loop. Who knows? It’s possible that you guys will eventually read the sidestory and not know why it’s such a big deal, or why I reacted enough to make vague references about it in this post. I guess I’m just feeling introspective.

What do you guys think? Would you be happier if Henri had less of a foul mouth? How do you feel about comics addressing topics that might make you uncomfortable? How do you feel about authors who censor themselves to make sure they stop on as few toes as possible? Inquiring minds blah blah blah.

Aaaand that’s enough of that.

swk3000

I have no problems with Henri’s swearing. You indicate that Henri is in his late teens or early twenties. Contrary to popular belief, turning 18 doesn’t automatically make you mature.

Also, words are how we communicate, and that includes how we feel. Sometimes, the best way to describe how you feel is contained in a four-letter word. Using other, lesser words might not have the same impact as a simple four-letter word.

Finally, Henri is still very much a teenager, even if he’s over 18. Teenagers can have some pretty foul mouths. To present Henri’s personality as you have, and then turn around and cheapen it by using anything less than what Henri would actually say, is to cheapen his character as a whole.

As for comics addressing topics that might make me uncomfortable, I have no problem. I like a good laugh and a good story as much as the next guy, but what really makes me happy is something that makes me think. Maybe it makes me look at an established trend in a new way, or makes me think about a topic that I might not otherwise look at. Those are the stories I enjoy most.

Finally, a note. For years, science fiction authors have used stories about the future to comment on the present. Don’t feel like you have to stay away from serious issues just because you’re doing sci-fi. If your story happens to touch on such a subject, then go for it. Don’t be afraid of what others may think.

ran

Currently Henri is 20, and I completely agree that age does not equal maturity. I’ve also got no problem addressing serious topics, and we’ll be addressing quite a few of them as things advance; the story gets progressively darker as it goes (not that that means there will be less fun space stuff).

I guess it mostly surprised me because it made me think about how shitty highschool/teenagers can be–I know so many people who grew up to be pretty decent people, but holy crap, teenagers are one step up from sociopath a lot of the time–they can have very little awareness of how their actions affect others.

Blue

I’ve actually only rarely met teenagers who are as terrible as people like to describe them. While I agree they’re not always as good at seeing the big picture as adults, I think they’re judged harshly a lot of the time. Adults can be just as selfish and make just as many mistakes, yet their bad behavior is rarely ascribed to their age.

http://www.voxboxcomics.com/ Michael Corley

The acting you put into the child’s face. So SO good!

ran

Thanks. I’m trying my best in new pages to vary up expressions. I’ll have a lot of opportunity for that in the next chapter, so it should be fun!

David Abplanalp

I have no problem with it. The swearing isn’t that important as I doubt that this comic is such a horrible corrupting influence on children. I thoroughly enjoy everything about this comic. I am jittery with anticipation as to how the other humans react to Ethma’s true form.

ran

You’ll find out 3 pages from now!

Threnodi

I have found some comics or stories that deal with serious issues that I had a hard time reading just because they got to the point where the dark themes made the whole thing seem so bleak and hopeless and pointless I didn’t want to continue. Whatever ‘point’ there may have been didn’t seem terribly constructive. Other times I see writers take the view of ‘in real life bad things happen, so I make really bad things randomly happen in my world too’ but I think that ideally a bit more thought should go into the process than that. Those are the sorts I have problems with, and your lovely comic doesn’t seem to be going down either of those routes to me, so!
I remember in Fullmetal Alchemist (a story I love but which has some pretty dark moments!) the author said in a note one of her peers told her in a time when she was doubting how her stories could ever be taken seriously compared to things that happen in real life that ‘fiction can bring redemption to characters who would otherwise never have a chance at it’ which seems like a worthwhile sentiment to me.
I don’t mind Henri’s swearing because it is part of who he is, and I’m suspecting part of how his growth as a character may be reflected down the line. I guess I would mind if none of the other characters reacted believably to his foul mouth, since then it would seem like it was done thoughtlessly or more to shock the audience than as a serious character trait, but again, I don’t get that impression and despite the fact I avoid swearing myself, I very much like Henri as a character so far. He may be an immature teen in ways, but he has principles he doesn’t want to compromise and his heart is in the right place.
As for me, I agree that a story that has some heavy moments, and especially if it’s to make you think can be a great achievement, but I like it even better when it’s something that makes me think, and that isn’t too painful to read more than once. That last bit may be wishy washy of me, but that’s my own preference.
In the end, I’d rather you guys do what seems right to you first and foremost, but there’s the thoughts I had for sharing on the off-chance they are of any use. ^_^;

SotiCoto

Words? No effect. Violence? No problem. Sexual topics… iffy, but ok if they use protection.
Heck, I’m quite comfortable watching high resolution images of smashed limbs, ruptured organs, mutilation, blood fountaining all over the place…. all with a sound-track of words you won’t ever hear on television, Nazis and the KKK doing a musical number… the works…

… but even thinking about humans making more humans makes me nauseous. Actually seeing or hearing new humans makes my whole body recoil in disgust.
I’m ok with them once they reach walking / talking age… but younger than that brings about the same sort of reactions that arachnophobes get around spiders.

Why? Not sure. Probably watching Alien when I was a kid…
It is frankly a wonder my younger siblings even survived childhood.
Either way… I’m somewhat of a pariah, so it isn’t like my opinion counts for much in the grand scheme of things.

Humble

Oh, I see a baby Fiah in that egg. I guess it is an actual egg, and not some other weird thing.

http://www.facebook.com/dkkauwe Daniel Kauwe

parents! who wants to face them ever lol

nancy

You should always tell it like it is. There is entirely too much burying of real events and emotions in the world. Life can get messy, it’s a truth we should stop trying to pretend isn’t so. I want to own my past, the good, the bad, and the ugly. It’s stupid to pretend, and nobody grows from lies!!

Vezera

To answer your questions – You should go with what they feel is truest with your story, but if someone tells you it doesn’t work (not they find it offensive), then you should revisit it. I would not be happier if Henri ha less of a mouth. How I feel about comics addressing such topics generally depends on how well they address those topics, but I have nothing against them doing so as a whole. I feel those authors are making a mistake.

Meran Ni Cuill

As long as regular conversation isn’t every other word a “bad” word, it’s okay to do what you like.
This is a big world. Anyone who censors the ~words of others doesn’t really have that right, IMHO.
If I wanted unicorns, rainbows, and ponies, I wouldn’t be reading adult level comics.
Hey, you’ve pretty much left the graphic sex out (for which, my thanks), but I’d never tell you what to write or what colors to use. Or complain about your choice of birdlike beings.
This is no different.